Jimmy Graham Wants All the Smoke, All the Tape, and All that Comes with High Expectations

The Jimmy Graham signing has been polarizing among fans, to say the least.

In a vacuum, Graham represents an improvement from what the Bears had at tight end last year. But the deal wasn’t signed in a vacuum. And because the contract isn’t as team-friendly as it could be for a team pressed for cap space (and was given to a player who appears to be on the decline), it’s become easy to rally against the signing. But it is what it is at this point. Graham is a member of the Chicago Bears on a one-year deal that includes $9 million guaranteed. And for what it’s worth, Graham wants to do everything in his power to prove he was worthy of such a contract.

Graham did a conference call with Bears reporters, and these snippets stood out to me:

Through this lens, you can almost see what Bears GM Ryan Pace saw in Graham when he threw down an offer for the free agent tight end. I can imagine it was easy for Pace to envision a motivated Graham pull it all together and have a turn-back-the-clock season one year after being cut for the first time as a professional. Hey, it’s not crazy. Bounce-back years happen all the time, even ones that are the least expected.

And if he is healthier than he’s been in the last few years, then discussing a rebound year isn’t just crazy talk:

In the end, Graham comes off as easy to root for after hearing how he sets out to approach the season. And when the lights go on in September – or whenever football season starts – Bears fans are going to do just that. Because as Jerry Seinfeld once referenced, we’re all just rooting for the clothes.

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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